LOWELL — A man acquitted nearly three years ago in the murder of a 20‑year‑old Lowell resident is in trouble again after being charged with cocaine trafficking in Boston and drunkenly driving his car into a Lowell bowling alley.
The arrests came after 23-year-old Christian Lemay — found not guilty in the 2020 shooting death of Adrian Kimborowicz — was accused of having about 100 grams of cocaine in his car during an October traffic stop and, in March was allegedly being found passed out drunk behind the wheel of his running vehicle as it sat against the wall of Bowlero in Pawtucketville.
The first arrest occurred when he was pulled over in the area of Milton Avenue in Dorchester shortly before 11 p.m. Oct. 7, for speeding and having excessively tinted windows, according to a Boston Police Department incident report.
During the stop, two officers approached the black Acura TL and identified the driver as Lemay, of Lowell, who they alleged was “reaching underneath the seat as if he was trying to conceal something.”
After handing over his registration, Lemay began reaching around inside the car “in a nervous manner,” the report states. When told to stop moving around by an officer, Lemay said he was looking for his license.
“Officers observed the suspect grab his license with his right hand from the steering column area, yet he was simultaneously reaching for something out of sight on the driver side door panel area,” an officer wrote in the report.
Lemay eventually handed over his license with his right hand, and officers noted he appeared to have nothing in his left hand, leading them to believe he had been “discarding or concealing something.”
Given his “nervous mannerisms,” the report states that the officers “were in fear that the suspect was armed and dangerous, specifically with a firearm.”
Lemay was ordered out of the vehicle and pat‑frisked, which yielded no weapons.
Outside the car, Lemay “continuously looked down at the ground and was breathing heavily while deeply exhaling in a defeated manner,” the report states.
As an officer checked the glove box, the report states that Lemay “started exclaiming ‘sir, sir why are you unlocking my car.’”
Inside, police said they found a large bag containing a “white rock like substance,” which they later identified as cocaine weighing 102.2 grams.
The packaging was “consistent with street level drug distribution,” according to the report.
Lemay was handcuffed, at which point he allegedly told officers, “It’s not even my car.”
He was charged with trafficking in 100 grams or more but less than 200 grams of cocaine, and possession of a Class C drug. He also received written warnings for speeding and having obstructed/nontransparent windows.
A Suffolk Superior Court spokesperson said Lemay was released after posting $5,000 in cash bail.
While out on bail for that charge, Lemay was arrested again — this time in Lowell on March 28 after emergency crews were called to Bowlero on Pawtucket Boulevard at about 4:30 a.m. for a vehicle that had struck the building.
A Lowell Police incident report states officers found a black Acura stopped at an angle against the back of the bowling alley, resting on the paved shoulder bordering Townsend Avenue.
Police said in the report that it would have been impossible for the vehicle to end up in that position without having traveled on Townsend Avenue first.
Lemay was observed “sleeping and unconscious” in the driver’s seat with the engine running and the car in gear.
Police put the vehicle in park and, after “several attempts,” woke him.
“Mr. Lemay was obviously confused and officers had to give multiple commands to get him to attempt to comply,” the report states.
Police reported a strong odor of alcohol coming from Lemay and the vehicle. An open container of hard iced tea — “half empty,” according to the report — was in the cupholder.
Lemay, who allegedly had slurred speech, claimed a friend had parked the car and left. He also said he had been visiting this friend on Townsend Avenue.
“Another version of events provided by Mr. Lemay was that he had pulled his car to the side of the road upon seeing police cruisers,” an officer wrote in the report, noting that explanation was implausible because he was found asleep.
Lemay initially refused field sobriety tests but eventually agreed to take them.
He passed a dexterity test but allegedly failed others, including the alphabet test — which he began before instructions were finished — the one‑leg stand and the walk‑and‑turn.
“It should be noted that while these tests were being conducted Mr. Lemay would often argue with officers,” the report states.
He refused a breathalyzer test, calling it “medically incorrect,” and said he preferred to give blood. However, when he was taken to the hospital, he refused to consent to a blood test.
Police said the Bowlero building sustained no significant damage.
Lemay, who is listed with a Lowell address in court documents for the Lowell case and a Dracut address in Boston court records, was arraigned last Monday in Lowell District Court on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol and possessing an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
According to court documents, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to revoke his pretrial release in the Suffolk Superior Court drug case. A member of the Lowell Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division submitted a statement supporting the request, citing the pending cocaine‑trafficking charge and noting that the offense carries a mandatory minimum of eight years in prison and a maximum of 20 years if convicted.
The filing also pointed to Lemay’s “violent criminal history including firearm and homicide charges, on which he was found not guilty,” referencing his acquittal in the Kimborowicz murder.
Judge John Coffey ultimately denied the request and released Lemay on personal recognizance, court documents show.
Ryan Sullivan, who along with Steven Rappaport represented Lemay during the Kimborowicz murder trial, has been hired to represent him in both new cases.
Sullivan declined to comment on the charges.
Lemay is scheduled to return to Suffolk Superior Court for a pretrial hearing on April 29, and to Lowell District Court for a similar hearing on May 12.
In May 2023, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Lemay not guilty of first‑degree murder in the killing of Kimborowicz, who was shot on Sutherland Street near his home and died a month later. Lemay was 18 at the time of the shooting.
Lemay’s codefendant, Braedyn Baraby — who was 16 at the time of the shooting — was also acquitted of first‑degree murder in a separate trial in August 2023.
During Lemay’s trial, the Middlesex Assistant District Attorney’s Office alleged that Lemay and Baraby opened fire on Kimborowicz and his close friend, Osvaldo Luna, as part of a planned ambush during the early morning hours of Sept. 26, 2020.
Prosecutors said Luna and Kimborowicz — who suffered a single bullet wound to the torso — had been led to believe the confrontation would be a fistfight.
Prosecutors argued the shooting was an act of revenge after Luna stole an eighth of an ounce of marijuana from Baraby several months earlier.
The DA’s Office unsuccessfully proceeded under a legal theory known as “joint venture,” which did not require prosecutors to prove Lemay fired the fatal shot, only that he shared the intent to harm or kill Kimborowicz.
Sullivan and Rappaport pushed a one‑gun theory during the trial, arguing that only a single firearm was used in the shooting and that Baraby was the lone gunman. They maintained that Lemay was unarmed, had no knowledge that Baraby brought a weapon to what he believed would be a fistfight, and therefore could not have shared any intent to harm or kill.
Before Baraby’s trial began, new forensic information came to light showing that the gun seen in Baraby’s hand in a video taken seconds before the shooting could not have fired the fatal bullet. That evidence — which was not presented to the jury during Lemay’s trial — led both prosecutors and the defense to agree that Lemay fired the shot that killed Kimborowicz.
The prosecutors again pursued the case against Baraby under the legal theory of joint venture but were unsuccessful.
Baraby was, however, found guilty of the least serious charge in the indictment — possession of a firearm — and was committed to the Department of Youth Services for roughly six months.
Baraby has also faced new legal trouble since his release from custody.
In October 2024, he was arrested by the Tewksbury Police and charged with possession with intent to distribute a Class D drug after officers allegedly found about 130 grams of marijuana, THC cartridges, and a digital scale during a sting operation at the Motel 6 on Main Street, according to a police report.
Court documents state that last August a judge found sufficient facts to support the charge but continued the case without a finding for one year — a disposition that allows the charge to be dismissed if the defendant stays out of trouble during that period. The order is set to expire in August 2026.
Baraby was also charged in July 2024 with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license after being stopped by the Lowell Police, but court documents show the case was dismissed a month later at the request of the Commonwealth.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social
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